#79 Joe Furlow- General Manager of The Magic Castle

I have traveled quite a bit, and have visited places that I thought were incredible, and some places that were all hype.  I have wanted to visit a place called The Magic Castle in Los Angeles the moment someone told me that it existed.  A secret society of magicians? WHAT?  Truth be told, it was all I could think about for a while.  So when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped.  I could not wait any longer.

I won't go into too much history about the place ( You will have to tune into the episode for that!).  I will tell you that The Magic Castle or The Academy of Magical Arts was incorporated in 1961, and shortly after The Castle opened its doors on January 2, 1963, and has been in operation ever since.  It has become known as “The Mecca for Magicians” throughout the world to come, entertain, and practice their craft.

I truly was like a kid in a candy store when I walked in, and I smiled the ENTIRE time.  they nearly had to drag me out when it was time to leave.  My friend Joshua Antoon and I saw 6 shows that evening, had delight cocktails, and conversations with magicians from all around the world.  Shout outs to the magicians that were performing that we got to take in- Hubb, Mat Ricardo, Rubén Vilagrand, Jack Nasher, Jeff Ezell, and David and Leeman.  You were all unique and incredible!

There are way too many things I love about the castle.  A:  It's makes you feel special just getting in  B: You have to dress up  C: No pictures allowed  D:  You can explore to you hearts content.  (That last bit had me all over the place looking in rooms, nooks, and crannies.  I wanted to drink it all in, every last bit, and I feel as though I haven't even scratched the surface. ) Which leads me to E:  They bring in rotating magicians from all over the world!   Meaning, you could go week to week, and see different acts every time you go.  They have 5 theaters in the building!  I am not kidding you.  They also have 5 bars... Yes, you heard me right.  There is so much I want to tell about the place, but I will just let Joe take this one, and maybe after the interview I will geek out a bit more about it.

I can't wait to return to feel like a kid again.  Hats off to you MC, keep that magic alive!

-M

PS:  HUGE thanks to Wayne Kawamoto, and my great friend Nick Carifo for making all this possible.  We had such an amazing time!  Closing Music by Aaron Leeder

This episode is sponsored by Levity!  All listeners get $5 off their floats with code "Marta" www.floatlevity.com

Check out this episode I had with magician Lee Terbosic about his Houdini stunt!

Marta On The Move heads to The Magic Castle in LA.

Photo by: Brian Joseph Ochab

General Manager Joe Furlow and sons. Me about to speak to the owl to be let inside! There are magicians performing in every nook and cranny Outside of The Magic Castle